‘waar015 ne who first drew out attention to theimpor- tance of Goan proverbs as an essential part of Goan culture and Konan language was the world- renowned Goan philologist Fr S.R. Dalgado, who after producing his dictionaries and vocabularies of Konkani, had his Florilégio dos Provér- bios Concanis published posthumously (Coimbra Uni- versity Press, 1922), setting them in the historical-cul- tural context and comparing them with equivalents in other European and Asian languages. He had planned to include thase proverbs in his above mentioned dictionary as we are told on p. xx ofits Intro- duction. Probably to cut short the problems of time and dis- tance, because he was based in Portugal and the diction- ary was printed in Bombay, he left those out and were published posthumously by his brother Dr. Gelasio Dal- gado, who assisted his brother in Portugal, as doctor and academic collaborator dluring many years until his death. Asa result of diabetes, Fr SR. Dalgado had both his He warns — tegs amputated and benefit- . ted from his brother's med- that otherwise ica assisiance. notall Ironically, S.R. Dalgado is ~, today known better for sounds will — wrong reasons. An Academy in his name promotes correspond to Konkani in Roman script, the spoken — while Dalgado published his . Konkani-Portuguese diction- Konkani ryin Mumbai (Indu-Prakesh tapshwur.epapercheraio inDetalsprinLaspxid=168808boxid= 8922229 Detalserint ken Konkani, That is pre- cisely the bane of Konkani, and those who are not famil- iar with Konkani will never be able to read it correctly, It is a political stunt that makes even some otherwise bright citizens in Goa to re- sist the use of Devanagari script. In addition to there as on mentioned above, the early Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries sought to avoid Devanagari in order to iso- Jate the converts from their past cultural Links with Hindu literature and sur- rounding regions from the mainland, It was for similar reason that the native con- verts to Christianity were discouraged from engaging in trade and commerce which required contact with the hinterland, It is strange that such a colonial mentality. should prevail with regard to De- vanagari script tll date and the politics of language may continue to harm the prospects of greater partici- pation of the younger gen ations who learn Hindi and Marathi in the schools using Devanagari script. It is only the old fossils that seem to be Joft out, but not much can be expected from them for the promotion of Konkani in the post-Liberation phase, Itis again a political game that presents the biaile (im- migrants) as the enemies of Goan language and identity. Most often, the poor immi- grants, such as the kanadigas, who make numerical difter- Goan mhonn’neo and opari should not be one of them. Konkani language is the key to Goan identity, and the colonial regime had tried its best to restrain its develop- ment, It is in Konkani sayings and proverbs that we can recall and recover the long term experiences of our an- cestors. They contain the snapshots of the past. The new generations need them more than the older genera- tions, but how can they ben- efit from them if they lose their cultural moorings by losing their grip on Konkani? Thisis also true of the Portuguese who have saudades (homesickness) of their colonial glories. A team of Portuguese journal- ists visited Portuguese ex: colonial enclaves in India, including Goa, in 1993- 1994. They reported on re- turn to Portugal that they had not found the Por- tuguese soul in Goa. My response to them ina conference at the Fundacio Oriente in Lisbon was that they were looking for the soul of Goa in archeological ruins or in the living ruins of the rare Portuguese speakers in Goa. They should have looked for that soul in the language of the Goans. Itstill retains many images, both positive and negative, of the Portuguese presence in Goa. 1 published a brief study about the Portuguese in Goan folklore, both in Portuguese and in English. Both the ver- sions may be read online by we‘waar015 Press) in 1893 in Devanagari script. He considered the De- vanagari script more apt to express all sounds of Konkani, and provides 10 pages with instructions for correct transliteration in Roman script for those who Jack familiarity with the De- vanagari script. He warns that otherwise notall sounds will correspond to the spo- tap epapercheraio inDetalsprinLaspx7id=168008boxid= 8922229 Detalprint ence (not the Indian elites that settle down in Goa) learn to speak Konkani in less than a year, because they need it to beunderstood and get jobs. It is the so-called Goans by birth, particularly the Chris- tians, who have replaced Konkani with English with the hopes of migrating, so as to provide better opportu: ties for their children. Thelieve that it is not re- ally the immigrants that threaten the Goan identity, but the so-called niz.goenkar who fear the competition of those they despise as bhaile. It should rather be a wake- up call for the sossegado Goans to give up their Ieisurely ways, considering them asa reflection of better quality of life. The quest for special status may have some good reasons, but per- petuating colonial legacy those who may have no ac- cess to the printed original versions at http:/ /bitly/1Xje7et and at http://bitiy/1HgmnKG. Twish I could expand my thoughts on the importance of safeguarding the Goan im- ‘material cultural heritage en- capsulated in the mhonn‘neo and opari, I earnestly recom- mend to the lovers of Konkani and Goan culture to consult the links provided above. wish to leave here a challenge to the younger gen- eration of researchers. of Goan culture to identity the post-Liberation experiences of the Goans in the new Konkani sayings and proverbs. (Teotonio R. de Souza is the founder-director, Xavier Cen- tre of Historical Research, Goa (4979-1994) 22